Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions of our Correspondents . We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . All Letters must bezr the name and address of the Writer , not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith .

OLD LODGE LISTS . To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —The engraved list for 1729 , recently presented to Grand Lodge , and so gracefully acknowledged by the Pro Grand Master at tho last Quarterly Communication , is a most valuable addition to our "National Masonic Library . " With its contents many brethren are already familiar , from its having formed

one of tho reprints with which Bro . Hnghnn has enlightened the Craft in regard to its past history ; but it is gratifying on all grounds that the original should be placed along with tho other ancient records of our Institution . The list in question is remarkable for being the first printed book in which Lodges wero arranged according to seniority of constitution .

Numbers and dates of constitution are therein exhibited for the first time , and it is , moreover , tho only official list we possess which ascribes actual dates to either of the four old ( or pre . revival ) Lodges . Original Nos . 1 and 2 boing dated at 1691 aud 1712 respectively . The latter of theso Lodges has long since died out ( 1733 ) , but the

former , now the Lodge of Antiquity , No . 2 , being oiw oldest English Lodge , a few remarks on its probable date of constitution , may not be out of place . In Aubrey ' s Natural History of Wiltshire ( Ed . 1847 , Brittan ) a work written between 1 G 56 and 1691 , nt p 99 , the following

appears : — Memorandum . —" This day , May the 18 th , being Munday , 1691 , after Rogation Sunday , is a great convention at St . Paul's Church , of tho fraternity of the adopted Masons , where Sir Christopher Wren is to be adopted a brother , and Sir Henry Goodric , of the Tower , and divers others . There havo been Kings of this sodality . " This passage , besides disproving the statement of Preston (

Illustrations of Masonry ) , that Sir 0 . Wren had been received into the Order at a much earlier date , would seem to justify the inference that from about the period of his actual initiation ( 1691 ) tho meetings of the old Lodge of St . Paul began to behold statedly , nnd that from being what was then termed an " occasional , " it became a " stated " Lodge .

The engraved list for 1729 , by placing the date of constitution of the Lodge at 1691 , adds weight to this supposition . Yours fraternally , R . F . GOULD .

P . S . —I should bo much obliged to any reader of tho CHRONICLE could ho inform me where a copy of " Dalloway ' s Historical Account of Master and Freemason" can be seen ?

Charity Stewards.

CHARITY STEWARDS .

To the i'difor O / T HE FREEMASON ' CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —Having brought to a conclusion my remarks on tho throe heads which I proposed to myself for consideration in connection with the subject of " Charity Stewards , " I now ask permission to submit to yonr readers my views with reference to

the necessity for au extended support to our Masouiu Institutions , and to tho means by which it may be permanently assured . With this object I shall confine myself to an examination of the sources from which such support may be—aud ought to be—obtained , other than those already treated of iu association with the Anniversary Festivals .

The sources in question are—1 . Supremo Governing Masonic Bodies , viz . — ( a ) The United Graud Lodge of England , ( o ) Tho Grand Chapter of England .

( c ) The Grand Mark Lodge of England . ( d ) The Order of Knights Templar of England . ( V ) The Supreme Council 33 ° of England . ( f ) The Grand Council of Red Cross of Rome and Constantino .

2 . District and Provincial Graud Lodges and Chapters under the U . G . L . of England . Similar organisations under the other Supreme Bodies . 3 . Private Craft Lodges .

„ R . A . Chapters . „ Mark Lcdgos . „ l ' recoptories of K . T . „ R . C . Chapters and Consistories 33 ° , „ Councils of Red Cross .

4 . Individual members of the Order . 5 . The Masonic Charitable Associations . A full examination of the position of the first on tho list—aud , of course , by far tho most influential and extensive— " The United

Graud Lodge of England , " in reference to the Institutions , will suffice for this letter . Tho two Educational Institutions received support from Grand Lodge down to tho year 1839 , by a foe of 2 s Gd on each certilicato issued . The aggregate amoaut granted to that year was , to the Girls' School , £ 3 , 580 ; to the Boys' School , £ 3 . 533 . The total

Charity Stewards.

amount for the fourteen years immediately preceding tho commutation received from Grand L dge was £ 1 , 53 ( 5 fis 3 d . giving an annual average of £ 109 1 Is 8 d , tho last year of the fourteen being £ 143 in 1839—when fhe fee of 2 s fid p ^ r certificate was commuted for a fixed sum of £ 150—at which it has ever since remained .

The inadequacy of the amount contributed by Grand Lodge , by way of annual support to tho two Educational Institutions , must strike at once tho most careless or inattentive reader . If a com . mutation of £ 150 per annum was considered fair and equitable in tho year 1839 , it must , ex necessitate , be admitted to be unfair and inequitable in tho year 1878 . In the year 1839 tho amount

contributed , £ 143 , represented 1 , 114 certificate * . The income of Grand Lodge was £ 2 , 829 15 s lid . In the year 1877 , the number o ^ certificafes issued was 8 , 465 , which , at 2 s fid e * ch , wonld produce £ 1 , 058 2 s ( id , the income of Grand Lodge being £ 12 , 519 12 s 5 d . In tho year 1838 the number of girls educated and maintained in tha Royal Masonio Institution for Girls wns 58- Tho number of boys

educated and clothed by the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys was 65 , the income from all sums being £ 884 fis . In the year 1878 , the number of girls educated , clothed and maintained is 200 . The number of hoys educated , clothed and maintained is 211 . In the face of theso facta , the enormous progress , numerical and material—the continued and continuing prosperity of the Order—the

immensely increased funds at its disposal , the Grand Lodge of England has not , as yet , even proposed to consider whether tho time has not arrived for moro substantial annual assistance to two Institutions whose resources aro severely taxed—the Boys' School most prominently so—to meet the ever advancing claims upon them . I do not lose sight of the grants by Grand Lodge from time to

time—as set forth in the Official Calendar , nor of the large outlay necessitated for the rebuilding of Freemasons' Hall , Tavern , & c . Until the latter had been defrayed , aud Grand Lodgo freed from liability , none thought of peeking aid from its funds . Neither do I overlook tho loss occasioned by tho recent bank failure ; happily that will not be seriously felt .

Grand Lodgo has now nothing to do bnt to largely accumulate funds , after providing liberally for every branch of administrative charge , and I contend it mav well bo asked to take into its serious consideration the needs of our Institutions , which are by nnnnimons consent not only most important in themselves , but aro also regarded with justifiable pride , —are under most distinguished and exalted

patronage , —while unquestionably they are at the same time objects of solicitude nnd anxiety , nnd must continue to bo so until , by well , directed munificence , they are rendered iudependent of precarious and intermittent support . I am compelled to conclude this somewhat abruptly , and shall trouble you again at no distant date .

I am , Dear Sir and Brother , Yours faithfully and fraternally , FREDERICK BIXCKXS . 10 th December 1878 .

To the Editor of the FREEMASON ' S CHRONICLE . DEAR SIR AND BROTHER , —In my humble opinion , no good purpose is served in prolonging a correspondence when an attempt is made to divert the real and original argument from its natural channel by a

side issue . In reply , therefore , to Bro . RadclyfTe , in CHRONICLE of the 7 th , permit me distinctly to say , not in the least or smallest degree did I misunderstand hi- remarks in his letter published in your paper of 26 th October last , but that I simply quoted his own words thus : —

" IIOIIW t' not be an easy matter to compel every Lodge to subscribe , say one-third of their subscriptions ?" It was upon this absurd theory of compulsion I commented , and not upov Lodge funds being placed under different beads , as stated by Bro . Radelyffo in last letter , vide your issue of 7 th . I am in the habit of disposing of one question before opening ano

ther . If , therefore , our brother thinks there is any thing in this wild idea of compulsion , I ask him for argument in i ' s favour , supported by facts and reason , or to throw it aside as one of those lop-sided ideas that now and then crop np with all who think , bat which will not stand the test of further thought and investigation . But should Bro . RadclyfTe adhere still to tho original theory of compulsion , he

might' call to his aid " OLD FILE J" that is , if tho latter can make up his mind whether this proposed system of compulsion is an obnoxious " Poll Tax , " or a just demand upon the Craft as a body—I say , if "OLD FILE" can make up his mind on the subject , for evidently ho had not , by the very opposite aud contradictory remarks and ideas expressed in his letters in your issues of 30 th November and 7 tb

December , merely reminding our brethren that by the free and voluntary principle of " giving , " hitherto in use by the Craft , —a principle and a system which has founded , maintained , and brought to a state of useful and efficient working thoso Charities which all good Masons point to with jnst and pardonable pride , —these Institutions , supported by the free offerings of the Craft to the extent of between thirty and

forty thonsaud pounds per annum , a fact that at once proclaims free and voluntary " Giving is Charity , " developed in one of its best forms , shedding lustre on the Order , making gladsome the hearts of all engaged in the good work , and in a degree to them far greater than to that poor humanity who ' merely receive the benefit of this free and voluntary giving .

I submit , therefore , that any machine made system of " compulsion , " as embodied iu the quotation which was extracted from Bro . Radclyffe's letter of 26 th October , is fatal to the true character of Masonry : that it would reduce the Order to the level of a benefit society , and drive from its ranks some of our best and earnests workers , who labour for the Institutions , doing this from the fact that